5 comments about And One Was a Soldier: The Spiritual Pilgrimage of Robert E. Lee.

1. Fantastic! What a great read from a Bishop who can recognize a man of character and faith. Unlike most Episcopal bishops today who chase after the wind, Bishop Brown has written an interesting short tome on the greatest man produced by the 19th Century. Bishop Brown's intertwining of C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, and T.S. Elliot makes it all the more interesting. This book will bless you during devotional time.



2. A well-researched book on the religious beliefs of Robert E. Lee. A most instructive study on how these beliefs developed and impacted the man. The book is detailed on just what these beliefs were and how they were at the very core of who Robert E. Lee was.



3. The review written in a vain attempt to slash at the character of such a paragon of virtue is ridiculous and only shows the strength of Lee's character and the weakness of any who would care to even attempt such damage to it. Lee freed all his slaves by 1863 only because that was the time period set within his father-in-law's will, he would have preferred to release them earlier since he viewed slavery as a vile and impractical institution although he was not in favor of complete and immediate abolition, preferring gradual abolition for their "education as a race"-- in other words, to fit them with abilities worthy of employment and adequate pay once freed. The comment about protocol was ridiculous and incomprehensible. Lee specificially told his younger officers, who suggested that he lead the army into what would be a devastating round of "bushwhacking"- guerrilla warfare in the countryside, that he would not because the only honorable thing was to surrender to Grant, and thus saved the country from years of devastating warfare. To say that Lee prolonged the war, then, is pointless, for it was he who surrendered when davis, his superior, would have continued to fight. The quote which suggests bigorty and prejudice of Lee shall not even be repeated here due to the fact that it was a misinterpretation of his meaning. Lee, in fact, showed by personal example the best way to unite the country. He attended an Episcopalian church in which the congregation was white, until one day a black man entered the church and proceeded to the rail to take communion. there was a oause in the church, for no man dared sit beside this "colored" man- except Lee, who immediate took his seat beside the man and showed that he was in no way prejudiced.



4. A thought-provoking book about one of the more interesting figures in U.S. history. However one might argue that his support of slavery, the needless misery and suffering caused by his refusal to call for an end to the war after his surrender when he admitted all was lost (basically a matter of protocol, due to loyalty to Jefferson Davis), his refusal to allow prisoner exchanges because of the Union's demand that black soldiers be included ('those species of property' as he put it) tempers the urge to consider him the "embodiment of all that is noble, beautiful, and worthy of emulation in the best of the Christian tradition." One would consider the Christian tradition a bit more enlightened. I also wish the author would have included the words Lee spoke when he shook hands with Ely Parker, one of Grant's aides, after the surrender papers were signed at Appomattox Courthouse: "I am glad to see one real American here." Parker responded, "We are all Americans."



5. To try to understand Lee apart from his faith is folly. He embodies all that is noble, beautiful, and worthy of emulation in the best of the Christian tradition. His grace, his poise, his presence are all legendary. His strategic acumen is without peer in all of American history. All are grounded in his simple, profound and unshakeable faith in the wisdom and mercy of God. He has been characterized as enimatic by some historians. I believe he is laid bare in this study. Part history and part meditation no Lee admirer should be without this one.

1 comments about The Stephen Experience.

1. "The "Stephen" referred to in the title is St. Stephen, the Christian martyr of nearly 2000 years ago. However, this fascinating book is not about St. Stephen and his times. It's about the meaning of life and death, as communicated to the author, a retired Anglican priest, and several others by St. Stephen through a New Zealand trance medium, Thomas Ashman, during the 1970s.
   
   Author Michael Cocks explains that Ashman's wife, Olive, heard her husband speak in Latin while he was sleeping one night, and on subsequent nights she recorded his words on tape. They turned out to be profound messages on spiritual matters. Ashman soon developed into a trance medium, as the author and a few friends gathered periodically at Ashman's home to hear St. Stephen's discourses and to ask questions of him.
   
   Cocks states that normally Stephen spoke through Ashman in a "rather curious English," but that he occasionally spoke in an ancient Greek dialect, which apparently was for purposes of confirming his identity. Initially, very skeptical when he heard of the phenomena in 1973, Cocks began to realize there might be something to it after he investigated and discovered that the Greek spoken by Stephen in some of his early sittings with Ashman was a dialect of 2,000 years ago from Ancyra (modern Ankara), where St. Stephen was said to be from. The appendix of the book presents the results of Cocks' extensive research into Stephen's Greek and how he confirmed that it belonged to the first century AD and could not have come from the mind of Ashman, who knew no Greek, modern or ancient. "The facts were that Thomas was allowing himself to be displaced by Stephen deliberately, after prayer, and as an act of obedience to God," Cocks writes, pointing out that Thomas, in his trance state, was not always aware of what was going on or what Stephen was saying.
   
   Stephen told the small group that he does not speak English and never has. "I activate these words that are in Thomas' memory and are known to him," he stated, continuing on to explain that he was able to effectuate the Thracian Greek by joining together sounds and symbols that were in Thomas' mind.
   
   Stephen told of his early life in Ancyra, now modern Turkey, mentioning that his actual name was "Stenen" and that he was 14 years old when Jesus was crucified. He stated that his death by stoning is reported "quite accurately" in the Bible, but stressed that he was not communicating to tell about his life but rather to help them understand their own lives. On several occasions, Christ spoke through Thomas. "The task of your servant Stephen is that of a messenger and he speaks with great authority," was one such early communication from Christ.
   
   Stephen pointed out that he was no longer the Stephen of the Bible, that he had given up his separateness "to be one with the Whole," but that to be of service to the Father and make those with whom he is communicating comfortable he had to "put on again the clothes of Stephen." When asked if he felt like "Stephen" or "The Whole," or even a figment of Cocks' imagination, the response came: "For if I speak that I am Stephen, I must first create Stephen, and be he. For I cannot be nothing. For once I decided I was nothingness, then I have learned nothing of nothing."
   
   Stephen speaks of why we are on earth ("Your trials and tribulations are essential, and part of the purification."); about Jesus (that it was his spiritual body, not his physical body that was resurrected); about spirits immediately after transition ("Think not that when you are without your body, you are going to be much different..."); about prayer ("But I say this, that each prayer is answered, each time prayer is made with the heart."); about sin ("The greater your consciousness expands, the greater the number of things that you will feel are sin."); about abortion (.."when the child is born, and the body is separated from the body of the parent, this then is the time when it would be right to speak of murder."); about reincarnation (not as commonly understood); and numerous other aspects of spirit life.
   
   Cocks also presents some very intriguing synchronistic experiences and cross correspondences concerning the teachings of Stephen. As he points out, however, Stephen's teachings, while profound, are not new. They are in accord with the experiences of the great mystics and many have been set forth in recent years in Jane Roberts' Seth and Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations with God. At times, the messages are very abstract, much as they are in A Course in Miracles, as Stephen explains that the abstractness increases as we go inwards, i.e., it is to a great extent beyond human comprehension. But even in the abstractness the discerning reader will find meaning.
   
   "The good things about Stephen were his love, his lack of judging, his balance, his thinking in terms of science, experience, and emphasizing the positive aspects of Christian belief," Cocks told me in a recent e-mail exchange. "He seemed to help in the letting go of the rubbish in our thinking."
   
   Overall, this is an intriguing and awesome read.

5 comments about DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T GIVE IN.

1. Terry Dwight Coleman tells his life story of spiritual growth. In this inspirational autobiography, DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T GIVE IN, readers go back in history with one man who very candidly discloses his journey to find God. The book becomes an old friend who you bump into and begin recounting your partying days together at the card table playing Bid Wiz or shooting pool late into the night. Coleman gives you the inside story about his fiery temper and recreational drug use. In contrast, he opens his heart up about his aspirations of building family values of unity and kinship. His testimony begins with being rescued by his grandmother from a hospital when he was an infant suffering from whooping cough, to alcoholic parents who could not care for him, to the suicide of a relative. His life journey leaps sorrowfully to the disappearance of his brother, the death of his mother, and beyond.
   
   Meanwhile, in a very subtle way, Coleman teaches forgiveness by nurturing a relationship with his parents despite their inability to care for him. He demonstrates the strength of family commitment even when a child misunderstands. For instance, you feel his childhood pain when his grandmother shows up at school on "Father's Day." However, you also sense this author's appreciation for his grandmother who went above and beyond her commitment of love and family.
   
   DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T GIVE IN is a quiet and relaxed conversational book that is interesting by nature. Coleman's real-life quest for God and his honest determination to live as a born-again Christian becomes very inspirational testimony for readers who may think they are facing problems with alcoholism, marital strife and family madness alone. He offers hope to offsprings who are shamed by their parents' problems. Gradually, readers begin to see how Terry's life had a purpose to give God all the glory. Readers will be amazed at how Mr. Coleman took an impossible idea of singing praises to the Lord to give back to fellow mankind and turned it into a marathon sensation! You will find this story about an average black man obtaining a great accomplishment, a truly wonderful nostalgic book for your enjoyment and library.
   
   Reviewed by Swaggie Coleman
   for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers



2. I am a member of Terry Coleman's church. To write this book and share his life and inner struggles took courage and a trust in God that "all things work together for good for those who love the Lord." I could not put the book down. We all have flaws and experiences we would not necessarily want to share, but Terry did. We all have tradegies and crises in life that we don't know how to handle. Yet, Terry's book shows us that we can. His testimonies at church have always been powerful, but his book is far more revealing. I read many books(a hobby), and consistently study God's word. This is a "must" read. It gives glory to a God who can do the impossible, for any of us.



3. This book is very inspiring.
   It tells a story to let everyone know all things are possible with God.
   
   Don't give up and don't give in!



4. This book is a must read, especially for young black males. I was unable to put this book down once I started to read it. I ordered the book but when it arrived my husband took it and could not put it down for a couple of days, subsequently I never got to read it until today. I found it in my stack of books to read. I glanced at it to see what it was about and could not stop reading until I was at the end. Indeed Terry Coleman's life had an auspicious start and took many strange turns along the way but it is possible to see the hand of God working every step of the way. There were plenty of opportunities for Terry to give up on life and the hand that was dealt him. Terry shows extreme determination as an African American male that was born and abandoned into a very hard life, yet found the willpower and faith to yeild to God's prompting and become a strong man of Faith in Denver. You will not be able to put this book down...



5. This book was full of suspense, humor, and grief. It was so hard to put the book down once I began reading. I could not wait to see what each chapter would reveal about Terry's life experiences. It is amazing that Terry has survived these traumatic events throughout his life. This book certainly reveals a triumph born of tragedy. His life also reveals what a wonderful God we serve and how faithful he is when we trust him. He will deliver us out of the depths of oppression. Terry's many accomplishments throughout his life reflect this as well as setting a world's record for singing hymns (forty hours and seventeen minutes).
   
   I give this book 5 stars.

No comments about Snapdragon: The Story of John Henry Newman.

4 comments about The Golden String: An Autobiography.

1. 
   by Heinrich Hora, Connels Point 2221, Australia (see more)
   
   This autobiography covers nearly all important thinking including atheism, the centre of religions, Chistianity and Catholicism as well about the main statements of philosophers, but also showing the author's steps from early search about the beauty of nature, culture, civilisation and experience with socialism and dictatorships. Though no final answer can be given, the synthesis of science and believe is discussed in a purified way free from esoteric or dubious speculations. Bede Griffiths has deeply bridged the world of East and West "together seeking to recover the wisdom which has been lost and to advance into the new age" by devoting his life to his worldwide known centre of an Indian ashram under the roof of his Benedictine order. The way he was led to this topic was transparent and a honest search distancing himself from modern fashion and degeneracy, exchanging his critical views with other inspired followers, down to earth life including craftsmanship and not missing a chance that he nearly got married. He underlined the new hope: "It is a movement towards a science and a technology which will cease to exploit nature and will learn to live in harmony with nature. It is a movement also towards a more human way of life...an attempt to reconstruct science and technology on a new basis."
   "To discover God is not to discover an idea but to discover oneself " is the question. "We have progressed from rejection of the Church at the Reformation, to the rejection of Christ at the French Revolution to the rejection of God at the Russian Revolution". Being born 1906 into a middle class English family he lost Anglican tradition and became an atheist when moving to own judgment and listening to the various texts like Fielding and Jane Austin, or Measure for Measure and King Lear. His discovery of the beauty of nature was the revelation which never lost him. Studying at Oxford "I had ceased to practice any form of Christianity, and regarded Christianity as a religion of the past". "Oxford had been commercialised...a sense of beauty which had been lost...beyond the reach of modern man" or an "inconsistency of the Industrial Revolution" what led him and few fellows to search for alternatives while carefully studying and discussing Plato, Aristotele, Spinoza or Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. St. Thomas Aquinas's and St. Augustine's works were compared with Buddha and Mark Aurelius along with Christ's sermon on the Mount. Moving then to a village taught to "distinguish between civilisation and culture", the first being "connected with continual extension of material luxury". "Our civilisation was not merely an offence against beauty and truth, against that rational order of life upon which human culture is based".
   Years later in the ashram I was mentioning the stainless steel plates in his kitchen as technological progress, but he did not accept this and preferred to take his meal from banana leaf. What showed him that "the source of evil was to be found in the human mind rising up against God and seeking to build up its civilisation without reference to God, the supreme arbiter of destiny and...human happiness". "Remember the Creator" are the steps how he found his happy way to finally become a Benedictine priest. "In the Roman Empire...the significance of manual labour had been lost through the introduction of slavery, just as it has been lost in the modern world through industrialism". His solution: "the monastic life restored it to its proper place in human life" by combining labour and continuous praying.
   It is really an adventure to follow Bede's way and read why "to sacrify is literally to make a thing sacred...to make it over to God" and "then we realize that the whole universe is a sacrament". It should be added that Bede could formulate with the blessing of the wide consciousness of the Vatican that all religions have a centre of divine origin..(dedicated to the celebrations of Prof.Dr.jur. Georg Romatka, Munich)



2. There is a formative sense to his writings, a recollection in faith and God
   that is delicately wrought and said with a sense of the imminence of God in
   his life as a young man, and the beauty of poetry. I like that he comes to
   the subject of generations and of the various human forces of mankind in
   twentieth century history with a willingness of being open to some
   imaginative life that seems touched with the Holy Spirit. I wonder about
   this man of Christ, and his life that is lived in a way that is really
   outside my experience and observation (saintly); here is Dom Bede's genuineness in faith
   and his own religious devotion. When reading the work, I sought: I want some of that richness that is
   tenderly present. I understand this to be his first book. One reason to read the work for me I found is to look for it to open me, and there I found a kind of widening of the vista where there
   is a wind that blows that says this is a strong current in our lives. Here in this book, an autobiography of a man of God, there is a larger sense of the Christian faith ecumenical, a to
   be of our future, yet with the promise of Christ that says we are this
   unique group, Christian. The book is about the modern world. So it comes to me that way, and as I go through
   it I sought some taste of the wisdom that is inherent in what is a
   life that is gifted with the Grace of God. Certainly there is the inter-religious, and some notes to understanding an inner dialogue including the dialogue of prayer. Someone needs to want to read this kind of work to enjoy it in that light. The slim volume is good for reflection and meditation. One reflection it offered me was newly awakened: to think of charity. This "Golden String" is a holy kind of history. For me I continue seeing it as a kind of religious record and writing. The book was recommended by a monk to me. He said it was like reading something by Thomas Merton.



3. This book is a very truthful look at one man's struggle to find the meaning of life. It is a fascinating look at a very complicated and sensitive individual. He describes his spiritual journey from agnostic to Roman Catholic monk in candid detail. He details his early agnsoticim, his epiphany during his final year at Oxford, his friendship with C.S. Lewis, his Waldenesque experiment. his pantheistic pagan nature worship along with the poets who he was inlfuenced by and finally his discovery of the orthodox Christian tradition, rebellion against rationality and journey to India. Griffiths reveals himself to be an unusually ecumenical man, finding wisdom in the Gita, Dhammapada and Dao de King as well as the gospels. he makes no attempt to gloss over the inconsistencies in the gospels, but intimates how they echoed the things that he had come to believe independently of the Bible. The main fault of the book was that his eventual conversion to orthodoxy seemed to be somewhat improbable -- we are still left wondering how it is that such a man was eventually able to reconcile the butchery and savagery in so much of the Bible as well as much of the moral corruption with the mystical god that he claims to have known. he also identified the Catholic church with the "mystical body of Christ" (Hooker) but fails to reconcile this with the church's history as one of the most brutal and repressive institutions in western history. He mentions that the 12th century was the height of human intellect and creativity, that Giotto and the medeival thinkers and artists were far superior to those of the renaissance (which he absurdly regards as the "beginning of the decline" of human acheivement) without giving a very good notion as to why he thinks this. The problem of his conversion was really still a mystery after I had finished the book -- it just didn't seem to fit somehow. Readers may do well to keep in mind that this book was written while he was in his late 40's and that he still had not assimilated the wisdom that he was to learn in his 40+ years in India -- this book, therefore, is a rather immature work, but is essential readers for all interested in modern religion, mysticism or comparative religion. I personally found this book of more value than Augustine's "Confessions". I think you will too.



4. After Oxford Bede Griffiths started life as an atheist who felt the need for 'something more.' He first found it in nature and the English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. He pursued this further with the study of philosophy, went through Descarte, Kant and into Coleridge's synthesis with Platonic concepts. Griffith believed he was also a communist, or certainly a socialist, in the pre-World War II days.

   Richer experiences with nature led him to a belief that what he found in nature was what he also had heard preached from church pulpits in his childhood. This led him first to the Anglican Church, then to the Catholic church because he wanted to become a Benedictine monk.

   Once taking his final vows he remained content in a monastery in England. Eventually he was invited to help out at a Benedictine monastery in India. There he began to learn Sanskrit and study Hindu and Buddhist scriptural classics. He left that monastery after a few years at an invitation to join an even stricter Cistertian monastery in another part of India.

   He became strongly influenced by the spirituality of the principle religious philosophy of India, Vedanta. He combined Vedantic spiritual practices with Christian monastic practices and eventually established a Christian ashram with overtones of Indian Hinduism. There he and his monks' practices include meditating twice a day, praying the eight Benedictine monastic hours, and reading the scriptures of the three principle religious traditions -- Judeo-Christian bible, Hindu-Buddhist scriptures and Moslem Koran -- at each of the eight canonical hours. This ashram/monastery has become famous for its broad ecumenical practices.

   The Golden String is one of the great spiritual biographies of the world.

No comments about Life of Ramakrishna.

5 comments about Spiritual Life, A (Suny Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture).

1. This book written by Merle Feld was extremely good. I couldn't put it down. Merle takes us on a journey through her early days as a child with lovely poems to enhance our reading and onto her married years where she explores the many areas of women in Judiasm. It is a true story of her journey which I truley enjoyed.



2. An amazing story of self-discovery, " A Spiritual Life, A Jewish Feminist Journey" by Merle Feld, fills her book with beautiful prose and poetry. I identified with this book immensely as the author echoed my inner thoughts that I never took the time to write. Ms. Feld voices the struggle to grow and develop into a special person, concerns about doubts how woman relate to others, professional growth and motherhood. She discovers a gift with words and poetry and along the way - confidence. Her book, a triumph of realization and actualization, expresses her developing passion, hones social action and true friendships. Read this book from cover to cover or open the book and select a poem at random. Each poem allows an opportunity to remember who we are, engage in a dialogue with self and friends, to encourage where we need to be in our lives. Several favorite passages discuss marriage, Israel, re- interpretation of some biblical stories, Shabbat and agonies about menstruation. This book will make you a new friend. Excellent!



3. Merle's Feld's poetry is so down to earth and fun to read as to appear simple--and nothing can be further from the truth. Her beautiful and touching poems are little jewels, each reflecting her deep connection to Judaism as well as her own humorous and profound insights into life as a Jewish woman. Through her poems and the personal narrative story that she weaves around them, Merle shares her experiences and journey as a Jewish feminist, mother, daughter, American in Israel, and wife.

   This book will speak to anyone, regardless of gender or background, who has ever felt that spirituality is in competition with the overwhelming demands of everyday life. Without offering formulas or prescriptions, Merle's voice speaks to a part of myself that I struggle to find; it says that holiness can be found right in the midst of the most mundane tasks and minutae. It is a transcendent experience in itself to realize that we have the power to transform everyday life into something holy.




4. "A Spiritual Life" gave me permission to digest my past. At the end of each vignette I was surprised to find myself face to face with "me"-my own experiences of decades ago. I suddenly slowed down and felt deep parts of my life that I had been too frightened to listen to long ago. I keep it on my night table and read it again and again reflecting on my own memories. Reading "A Spiritual Life" has been a healing experience for me.



5. "A Spiritual Life" gave me permission to digest my past. At the end of each vignette I was surprised to find myself face to face with "me"-my own experiences of decades ago. I suddenly slowed down and felt deep parts of my life that I had been too frightened to listen to long ago. I keep it on my night table and read it again and again reflecting on my own memories. Reading "A Spiritual Life" has been a healing experience for me.

1 comments about The Carpenter's Apprentice: The Spiritual Biography of Jimmy Carter.

1. Dan Ariail is the pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia and Maranatha is the home Church of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter where they are active members. Rev. Ariail with the assistance of Cheryl Heckler-Feltz has attempted to put together a book that sheds some light on the Carter's spiritual life. It is indeed hard to understand the Presidency and post-Presidency of James Earl Carter without coming to grips with his basic religious beliefs. After all, while most former Presidents of both parties spend most of their time making huge sums of money or just relaxing, Jimmy Carter has done more to help more people than almost any man alive has. What is it that drives this wonderful man as he seeks to do good day after day? According to this book and several by Carter himself it is the former President's faith in God and his relationship with Christ.

   Unfortunately, this book is mostly made up of accounts that have already been written about by Carter in his own books. In fact, if one were to combine several of Carter's books, this could be the condensed version. There are also too many long quotes from Carter's speeches and Sunday school lessons included in the text. With the book being as short as it is I felt the space could have been better used. Especially if it had been used to gain some extra insight from a man who knows Mr. & Mrs. Carter so well. I finished this book thinking a great opportunity had been missed.

   There are however several wonderful insights to be found in this book. For example there are stories of Jimmy Carter going out with his Pastor to visit new families in the community which is just as much a part of his Christian outreach as are his diplomatic efforts. The last section of the book is basically a tourist information chapter for those planning a trip to Plains. Just last year my wife and I went to Plains and this chapter would have been a great help. Especially the section about visiting Maranatha Church. We managed to make the Church visit and were in the President's Sunday school class. After the service we were able to have our picture made with the former First Family and found that they are gracious and lovely people. If nothing else, this book will help you plan for such a trip so you can share with my wife and I in this once in a lifetime experience. We would have had a much easier time if I had had this book back then.

   If you are a Carter fan you will probably already be familiar with most of the material in this book but you will probably enjoy it anyway. If nothing else you will get a little insight into the personality of Billy Carter from someone outside the family. Billy was also a member of Maranatha and the Sunday we were there his widow was singing in the choir. On the other hand, if you don't really know much about the family Carter this book would be a great learning experience. For those who have already read Jimmy Carter's books this would be a two star selection while for those new to the Carter story it would be worth four stars. I guess I'll have to average it out at three.

5 comments about Barton Stone: A Spiritual Biography.

1. A great read in Stone-Campbell history. It charted the conflict and confusion that the restoration leaders went through in discovering truth. Sometimes, I think that people in the church believe that thousands of people simply read the Bible a few times and agreed on every point of doctrine. This is certainly not the truth. The search for truth is difficult, taxing, and rewarding. There was significant debate concerning baptism, atonement of Christ, and even the divinity of Jesus. This book helps us to never forget that conflict and disagreement will accompany the pursuit of truth.



2. D. Newell Williams takes a fresh, compassionate look at the contributions of Barton Stone to the first generation of the American Restoration movement. This movement was born and bred on the first new American Frontier of Kentucky,Ohio,Indiana and Illinois in the years that followed the birth of the U.S.A.
   The biography looks at Barton Stone's spiritual journey and struggle to unify the new American church into a coherent and practical theology. I pleasantly responded to Williams search for the spirituality of one of the great frontier evangelists.
   This book is worth a read from anyone seeking to understand the history of the protestant faith and its impact on the frontier mind.



3. D. Newell Williams was a professor of church history at my seminary prior to heading off to Brite Divinity School to assume the leadership there. That academic administrators are failed scholars is not a charge that could be leveled against Williams, and this book is primary evidence to that. Williams is a scholar of insight and precision, developing his subject thoroughly, carefully, and with great clarity.

   Barton Stone is a figure of great importance in the history of Christianity in America (a subject of great importance in the history of America, one that tends to get lost in the early education of many students in the public school systems who still shy away from incorporating anything that smacks of religiosity for fear of violating the church/state split). It is remarkable that volumes on Stone are few and far between. The influence of the early Presbyterians and the off-shoots on the overall religious ethos of America can be seen across many denominations never directly in communion or administrative relationship with them.

   Stone and his ministerial colleagues looked to a great revival, something that often inspires dread in established denominational hierarchies. Dissolving formal alliances with the Presbyterians and avoiding any descriptive terms save `Christian', Stone's path eventually led to a community with the followers of Alexander Campbell, becoming by the time of the Civil War the fifth largest Christian group in America. Inspired both by the greater spirit of liberty developing out of the aftermath of a successful war for independence and the expansion into new territories in the West, and the experience at Cane Ridge, America's Pentecost. Stone rejected the doctrine of predestination (which in many ways violated the sense of freedom so present in the young American republic), and yet Williams' main thesis is that there was no influence greater in Stone's development than his Presbyterian spirituality.

   The development of the book follows the general pattern of Barton Stone's life. In the first part, Williams explores the family and social background of Stone, as well as his training and call to be a minister. Williams points out that Stone was not an untrained minister (as has been reported by other historians), but rather had significant training and education that included the standard ministerial training in biblical languages and topics. Williams gives an interesting account of Stone's pre-ordination struggles with reconciling himself to the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, including his search through scriptures and reason for consistency, and Stone's eventual qualified response when asked at his ordination if he could receive and adopt the Confession of Faith: `I do, as far as I see it consistent with the word of God.'

   The second part gives attention to the Great Revival in considerable detail. Stone's experience led to conflicts and eventual separation, but this was not without great struggle and conversation. Stone's respect for many who were opposing him (David Rice, whose arguments that any departure from a fairly strict Calvinism would eventually lead to atheism which did not ultimately persuade Stone, is one such example) is apparent in Stone's own writing. Williams' explanation of the proceedings gives good insight into the way church organisations worked (and, in many ways, continue to work) in American society.

   The three final sections all deal with the growth of the Christian church, first into an informal formality, then in union with the Campbellite Disciples as well as other groups such as the Separate Baptists, and finally as a group at action in the world for social progress. Part of the discussion for union took place in a way reminiscent of modern wrangling between nations without formal diplomatic relations - articles in periodicals, often penned by people other than the major players, made statements and set tone for the process of union. The formal denominational structure of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) did not take place until much later in the 1960s - until then, they remained a movement; before and after there remains a part of the spirit that wishes to `sink into union with the Body of Christ at large'.

   Williams' writing is clear, engaging, interesting and informative. This is a good text for students of religious history, for seminarians of any denominational stamp, and for general readers who wish for insights into early American personalities.




4. I read this book a few days ago just because I thought it would be interisting. To my glee, i found that it was indeed very interesting. I have read all of Dr. Williams books and each one has a place in my top 5 favorite books list. I recomend this book to everyone.



5. In Barton Stone: A Spiritual Biography, Newell Williams (Christian Theological Seminary) takes great pains to paint a coherent well-balanced biographical picture of Barton Stone, one of the founders of the movement that would come to be called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Williams opens this book with the statement, "...genuine Christian faith could only be the result of a miraculous or extraordinary experience of the Holy Spirit." It is very much through the filter of this experience that we learn about Barton Stone. Williams presents us with a Stone that is a vigorous advocate of Christian Unity; in 1832 he worked to unite the Christians with Alexander Campbell's followers known as the Reformers or Disciples. By 1860, this group numbering nearly 200,000 became the fifth largest religious group in the United States; they did not, however, organize as a denomination until the 1960's. On the issue of unity some of the difficulties of Stone's theology come through. His ideas on this issue (and many others) are puzzling. Williams works a great deal to clarify these aspects of Stone's theology and weave them into an easy to understand tapestry. In addition to focusing on Stones deep spirituality and proclivity for Christian unity, Williams shows his humanity in pointing out his frustration at the churches of his time because their apathy on the issue of unity and another issue that was central to Stone's theology, emancipation. The author spends a great deal of time focusing on this issue. Stone believed that slavery had no place in the Christian church and that it was a hindrance to both unity and the Second Coming of Christ. He wrote and preached a great deal on this issue and supported a colonization scheme for moving former slaves to offshore colonies; later he supported immediate abolition. While the author speaks of his subject's many contributions Christianity in America, he speaks little of the work of Alexander Campbell other than to mention in passing on a number of occasions some difficulties he had with Stone's theology. The author also fails to paint an accurate picture of the true unification process between Christians and Disciples. As I understand it, this union happened in local towns one congregation at a time. Stone and Campbell themselves never really seem to have united on all issues. In focusing on the spirituality of Stone, we learn little of his large ego; a trait that many scholars have attributed to both he and Campbell. Many have also sited this trait as one of the hindrances of unification. In conclusion, little has been written on Stone for the past forty years; this much needed updated biography gives us what in my opinion it yet the best balanced view of its subject. Stone is painted as a complex reformer, alive during the last great Christian revival, dedicated to unity, and integrity within Christ's church. While this book is academic in nature, it is also well written enough that even the casual reader will enjoy it. Students of the Stone-Campbellite movement will also be well served by this balanced historical resource.

1 comments about In the Company of the Wise: Remembering My Teachers, Reflecting in the Light.

1. Sivananda Radha shares her experiences with Shirdi Sai Baba, the Dalai Lama, Anandamoyi Ma, Papa Ramdas, Padre Pio and other remarkable teachers. This book was hard to put down.